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Public Act 91-0746
SB1533 Enrolled LRB9112658DJcd
AN ACT to amend the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
Marriage Act by adding Section 604.5.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
Marriage Act is amended by adding Section 604.5 as follows:
(750 ILCS 5/604.5 new)
Sec. 604.5. Evaluation of child's best interest.
(a) In a proceeding for custody, visitation, or removal
of a child from Illinois, upon notice and motion made within
a reasonable time before trial, the court may order an
evaluation concerning the best interest of the child as it
relates to custody, visitation, or removal. The motion may
be made by a party, a parent, the child's custodian, the
attorney for the child, the child's guardian ad litem, or the
child's representative. The requested evaluation may be in
place of or in addition to an evaluation conducted under
subsection (b) of Section 604.
The motion shall state the identity of the proposed
evaluator and set forth the evaluator's specialty or
discipline. The court may refuse to order an evaluation by
the proposed evaluator, but in that event, the court may
permit the party seeking the evaluation to propose one or
more other evaluators.
(b) An order for an evaluation shall fix the time,
place, conditions, and scope of the evaluation and shall
designate the evaluator. A party or person shall not be
required to travel an unreasonable distance for the
evaluation.
(c) The person requesting an evaluator shall pay the fee
for the evaluation unless otherwise ordered by the court.
(d) Within 21 days after the completion of the
evaluation, if the moving party or person intends to call the
evaluator as a witness, the evaluator shall prepare and mail
or deliver to the attorneys of record duplicate originals of
the written evaluation. The evaluation shall set forth the
evaluator's findings, the results of all tests administered,
and the evaluator's conclusions and recommendations. If the
written evaluation is not delivered or mailed to the
attorneys within 21 days or within any extensions or
modifications granted by the court, the written evaluation
and the evaluator's testimony, conclusions, and
recommendations may not be received into evidence.
(e) The person calling an evaluator to testify at trial
shall disclose the evaluator as an opinion witness in
accordance with the Supreme Court Rules.
(f) Subject to compliance with the Supreme Court Rules,
nothing in this Section bars a person who did not request the
evaluation from calling the evaluator as a witness. In that
case, however, that person shall pay the evaluator's fee for
testifying unless otherwise ordered by the court.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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